Thief Steals Concrete Statue of Fallen Marine to Sell for Scrap Metal

A scumbag and idiot thief stole a statue of fallen Marine Sgt. Matthew Fenton to sell for scrap metal. But, it was concrete.

The thief, Vincent J. McManus (pictured mugshot), later discovered the 100 pound statue was made of concrete and covered it up in his yard.North Jersey.com reported:

A borough man has been accused of trying to steal a statue erected in honor of fallen Marine Sgt. Matthew Fenton, a borough resident killed in Iraq in 2006, police said.

The suspect, Vincent J. McManus, told police he took the statue to sell for scrap metal — only to discover later that it was made of glazed concrete, police said.

The statue of a soldier was recovered yesterday in McManus’ back yard, where it was hidden under a garbage can, Lt. Frank Novak said. The only damage is a broken finger, he added.

The statue was reported missing from its base in front of Memorial School on Sunday morning, Novak said, and Police Chief Ralph Verdi made its recovery the department’s top priority.

Officer Michael Hinchcliffe worked with school officials Monday to look at tapes from the building’s security camera.

Those tapes showed a man driving up to the school on Liberty Street in a dark-colored pickup truck about 11:45 p.m. Saturday and grabbing the three-foot-tall statue, which was not attached to its pedestal, Novak said.